Package opener



Sept. 15, 1925.

J. P. KENNEDY PACKAGE OPENER Filed Sept. 22, 1923 INVENTOR l BY M Y R @d'7 4 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 15, 1925.,

f 1,553,449 UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

JAMES P. KENNEDY, 0E BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AssrGNonoE ONE-HALE mo EKED c.

' EozEMAN, or NEW YoEK, N. Y.

`IPACKAGrIEl OPENER.

Application led September 22, 1923. Serial No. 664,165.

To all whom t may cof/wem.'

Be it known that I, JAMES P. KENNEDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at .Brooklyn, county ofKings, State of New York, have made a certain new and useful Invention in Package Openers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in a cord cutting and packageopening device, for effectively and quickly cutting cords and twine for opening p-ackages and` for other purposes. 1

A further object of my invention includes the provision of a cutting device which is inexpensive, is readily and conveniently carried, and which is always ready forinstant use.

It is a further purpose of my invention to provide the construction wherein the cutting blade is quickly and cheaply replaced and wherein it is fully protected against accidental cuttingand damage,

Other yobjects will appear hereinafter, and

I I attain. these objects by the devices illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a lan view of a construction embodylng my lnvention. l

Fig. 2 is a sectional vibw taken'on lines- 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view showing my construction whenthe top plate has been removed.

Fig. 4 is a plan view'of another form of construction embodying my invention.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken-on lines 5 5 of Fig. 4; and v Fig. 6 is a view of the type of cutter blade use Y Similar numerals throughout the different views are employed to represent similar parts. y

It is the prime purpose of my invention to provide a self-contained cutting device in which waste safety razor blades may be used. These bladesare employed as the cutting ele-I ment and ,are so located as to be effective for cutting cords, for example, yet arefully protected against accidental damage. To this y., end I provide suitable holder plates comprising a face holding plate 10 and a base -holding plate 11, between which a cutter blade 12 is securly held in any suitable manner.

In la preferred form of construction, I

` employ as a holding means bosses 13. These bosses may be integral with the base holding plate and of suflicient length to extend into recesses 14 in the face plate. The position of the bosses on the base plate is designed to be of such extent as to properly t the outer openings 15- in the cutter blade. At a point intermediate the distance between these bosses there is provided a screw thread opening 16 to coincide with the central opening 17 of the cutter blade. Within this screw thread opening 16 is fitted a screw 27 which may have a counterscrew head 28 to neatly fit with the surface of the face holding plate.

The general form of the two holding plates is identical. In my preferred form I provide oneach side thereof a guard finger 18. The inner surface 19 of this guard finger is substantially parallel with the edge 20 of the body of the holding plates. The outer extremity of the guard finger 18 tapers, as shown in 21, to serve as a'package opener and for the purpose ofreadily guiding the cord or other object to be cutI and force it against the slanting cutter edge 22 of the cutter blade. The` cutter blade is positioned diagonally, by the fact that the bosses in the base plate are odset from the center, -as is best shownin Figs. 1 and 3. By this ar-V rangement a cutter blade is held in a secure position and is fully protected at all times.

I also provide an anchor 23 for the purpose of attaching a chain or cord inorder to fasten the package opener to a watch-chain or a buttonhole or to the work bench, thus preventing loss or displacement.

In place of the form described above, 1t 1s obvious that only a single guard ingerfor guarding the single exposed edge of the cutter blade may be used. Such form is disclosed in Figs. 4 and 5. This form has the advantage of having only one side and can be made right-handed or left-handed, as may be preferred.. It also has the ladvantage of having one side of the cutter blade fully protected and as soon as the used cutter edge becomes dull, the blade maybe reversed, thereb securing a keen cutting edge when neede In either case would it be possible v to quickly provide a new blade by simply unscrewing the holding screw 27, removing the convenient and useful for cutting strings to open packages and for other purposes.

It may also be conveniently used for opening envelopes by simply inserting the guard linger in the edge of the envelope and slit-l ting it open. f

Having now described my invention, what I claim, therefore, as new and useful and of my own invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is A l. In a cord cutting and package opening device, a main body member comprising a pair of flat plates and having a cutter blade secured therebetween, holding projections 0n one of said plates, and a pair of protecting fingers flanking said main body member in opposite directions to guide elements to be severed into Contact with the opposite cutting edges of said blade.

2. In a cutting and packagev opening device, a main body comprising a pair of Hat plates having slots cut therein to form guard fingers, a cutter blade held between said plates, said blade having opposite cutting edges exposed in said slots, and means fork holding said plates and blade together.

3. A self-contained twine cutter, comprising a pair of Hat plates of similar magnitude and having recesses formed along opposite sides of said plates to form guarding and guiding means, and a cutter element secured between said plates and having cutting edges inclined at an angle to said guarding and guiding means from opposite directions.

4. A self-containedr cord cutter and package opener comprising a main body of substantially rectangular shape, guard lingers` on said body, said guard fingers extending in opposite directions, a cutter blade in said bodv and having cutting edges exposed diagonally opposite said ingers, the extremities of the fingers being tapered to serve as twine guide and package opener.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand on this seventeenth day of September A. D. 1923.A

JAMES iP. KENNEDY. 

